In response to a practical protest by Chinese citizens worried about levels of air pollution, China’s government has announced a plan to measure and limit the amount of small particle pollution in the country’s air. It all started last May when a Chinese citizen purchased a $4,000 air quality monitor and started posting daily pollution levels on the internet. That move caused a domino effect and monitors were purchased across the country by citizens concerned about the air they were breathing. The citizen-action caused the demise of China’s government propaganda about the quality of their air. Where last year the government was touting 274 “blue sky days”, this year they’ve promised to do their own monitoring, saying that they will institue new health standards as soon as possible.

Read the rest of Wave of Public Criticism Causes China to Cave on Pollution Control Problems

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Post tags: air pollution, air pollution cancer, air pollution lung cancer, air pollution standards, Beijing air pollution, cardiovascular problems, china, china smog, chinese air pollution, chinese air pollution standards, chinese smog, fine particle air pollution, fine particle smog, health risks of air pollution, pm 2.5, respiratory problems, smog, smog in china, urban smog

Pick a product sold in the US, and chances are it’s made in China. But now in an ironic twist of fate, American-made goods are becoming more popular in China. According to a report by Jing Daily, workwear labels like Red Wing, Woolrich, Billy Reid, and Gitman Brothers are all gaining popularity in China, and just last month high-end shoemaker Allen Edmonds announced plans to expand to China. “Suddenly ‘Made in America’ has a value to the Chinese customer in almost the same way that ‘Made in France’ or ‘Made in Italy’ once had for Americans,” NYC designer Patrik Ervell recently told Bloomberg News.

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Post tags: American flag, china, Chinese trade, eco textiles, Fashion, made in USA, men's fashion, menswear, US flag, usa, workwear, world trade

Today a leaked internal email from Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed outrage over the New York Times‘ scathing exposé revealing the harsh working conditions of Apple’s many Chinese suppliers. Cook insisted that Apple has done and will continue to do everything they can to improve worker conditions, and he even questioned the validity of the New York Times article, saying “Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”

Read the rest of Tim Cook Outraged Over New York Times Accusations That Apple Abuses Worker’s Rights in Chinese Factories

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Post tags: apple, apple factories, apple factory issues, apple news, apple suppliers, Chengdu, china, chinese factories, chinese factory conditions, chinese factory danger, foxconn, human rights violations, iPad, ipad factories, ipad factory explosion, ipad news, new york times, news, Reuters, Steve Jobs, tim cook, violated workers rights, workers rights, workers rights china

If we hadn’t seen a video of the T30 Hotel going up in China, we might not have believed that anyone, anywhere could erect a prefabricated 30 storey tower in just over 2 weeks. But it’s true – Broad Sustainable Building, a subsidiary of the BroadGroup construction company, has broken their previous record of constructing a 15 storey building in one week with their latest project in Hunan Province. Not only did BSB get the T30 Hotel up in 15 days or 360 hours (with the help of 200 super speedy construction workers), but the company claims that their 17,000 square meter tower is 5 times more energy efficient than the competition and generates a fraction of the waste. It is also said to have the capacity to withstand an earthquake that measures up to 9 on the Richter Magnitude Scale! Take a look at the incredible time-lapse video of the hotel’s construction after the jump.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "sustainable architecture", air purification, Broad Sustainable Building, BroadGroup, BSB, china, eco design, green design, heat recovery, Hunan Province, Pollution, prefab construction, reduced construction waste, solar shading, sustainable design, T30 Hotel

Read the rest of SOM Unveils Soaring Daylit Tower for China’s Greenland Group Suzhou Center

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", atrium, building lungs, china, eco design, eco skyscraper, eco tower, green architecture, Green Building, green design, Greenland Group Suzhou Center, high performance tower, SOM, som chicago, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, wujiang

China has made a momentous step forward for public transportation by unveiling the world’s largest bus – the Youngman JNP6250G. The megabus Superliner is 13 meters longer than regular city buses, and it can transport up to 300 passengers in a single trip. A fleet of the new buses will make up the Bus Rapid Transit service in both Beijing and Hangzhou, where populations are high and urban living creates great demand for public transportation systems.

Read the rest of World’s Largest Bus: China’s 300 Passenger Youngman JNP6250G Set to Serve Beijing and Hangzhou

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Post tags: Beijing, Bus Rapid Transit, china, eco design, green design, Hangzhou, megabus, public transportation, sustainable design, Youngman JNP6250G

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Post tags: buildings made from ice and snow, china, eco design, el wire, energy efficient lighting, geothermal heat system, green design, green lighting, Harbin, Hotel de Glace Quebec, ice architecture, ice buildings, Ice Cafe, ice castle, ice hotel, ice sculpture, icehotel, legacy of the river, quebec city, roger hanson, snow buildings, Snow Sculpture, songhua river, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, Sweden, Temporary Art, tron, winter recreation

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", carbon footprint, carbon sponge, china, Daylighting, Eco Architecture, eco design, footprint, green design, green roof, Hangzhou Xintiandi, hotel, jds, JDS Architects, mixed-use development, pixelated roof, sustainable design, terraced roof

Read the rest of Envision Energy’s Flowing Wind Turbine Headquarters is Inspired by Wind Energy

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Post tags: "wind power", aecom, china, eco design, envision energy, green architecture, Green Building, green design, renewable energy, solar shading, sun screen, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, wind energy, wind turbine manufacturer, wind turbines

One person’s broken strand of Christmas lights is another’s treasure – and the Yong Chang Processing company in Shijiao, China is where cast-off holiday decorations go to be transformed into new products. As the holidays come to a close, thousands of Americans will toss strands of lights into recycling bins, which will make their way to the Chinese plant.  Yong Chang then chops up the lights, sorts out their plastic components, and recycles them into useful products such as insulation and even slipper bottoms.

Read the rest of China’s Christmas Light Recycling Plants Process 20 Million Pounds of Lights each Year

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Post tags: china, Christmas Tree light recycling, eco design, green design, plastic recycling, scrap metal recycling, Shijiao, sustainable design, Yong Chang Processing

China‘s boom in industry and population has put a strain on its natural resources – not to mention the health of the environment – over the past few decades. In order to alleviate the stress of growing crops for an ever-increasing population, the government is intervening with nature by rolling out four regional programs to artificially increase precipitation across the country by 10 percent before 2015. The program, which was included in the newly released 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), is anticipated to bring in an additional 230 billion cubic meters of precipitation per year. This is on top of the 50 billion China already artificially creates annually in the northeastern province of Jilin.

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Post tags: china, china controlling rain, china farm irrigation, china making rain, china rain, china weather, china weather control, cloud-seeding, controlling mother nature, controlling nature, controlling rain, faux rainfall, man made rainfall, weather control

Read the rest of gmp Architekten Breaks Ground on New Solar Eco-Park in Qingdao, China

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Post tags: china, eco design, eco park, ecological park, germany, gmp Architekten, green architecture, Green Building, green design, qingdao, renewable energy, Solar Power, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, Urban design

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Post tags: "wind power", china, eco design, green design, Harbin, ice sculpture, siberia, Snow Sculpture, songhua river, sustainable design, Temporary Art, winter recreation

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Post tags: china, Daylighting, eco design, green buildind, green design, green homes, Metal louvers, OCT River, RIchard Meier Architects, Shenzhen Clubhouse, sustainable design

Read the rest of Nine Dragons Housing Complex is a Green-Roofed Residential Maze in China

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", china, Daylighting, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green roof, housing complex, LA eco designers, mixed-use development, nine dragons housing complex, residential development, suizhong, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, ykh_lab

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Post tags: 18 kowloon east, aedas, Aedas Architecture, bushy carpark, carbon emissions, china, eco design, Green Building, green design, greenery, Kowloon, Kowloon bay, manufacturing, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of Liyuan Library’s Wood Facade Filters the Sun While Harmonizing With the Surrounding Landscape

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Post tags: Beijing, brise soleil, china, eco design, firewood facade, glazed windows, green design, Huarirou, li xiaodong, Liyuan Library, sustainable design, timber stick facade

Read the rest of China Celebrates the Opening of Its Gorgeous Daylit Tianjin West Railway Station

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", china, Daylighting, eco design, gmp Architekten, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green transportation, high speed rail, high speed rail station, natural daylighting, railway, railway station, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, Tianjin, tianjin west railway station, train station, vaulted ceiling

Gucci‘s flagship store in Shenzhen, China, has been accused by former staff of sweatshop-like abuse.  Five ex-employees of the luxury brand cited abuse so severe that they suffered from stomach and urinary illnesses and even miscarriages.  Click ahead to see the accusations and what steps Gucci is taking to prevent this from happening again.

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Post tags: china, eco-fashion, Ethical Fashion, green fashion, Gucci, human rights, shenzhen, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style, sweatshops, workers rights

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill architects have certainly made their mark in the U.S. with their breathtaking World Trade Center Tower, and their next project will take their innovative designs all the way across the world to China. The firm has just been selected by Beijing-based MCC Real Estate to redevelop the Nanjing Waterfront into a bustling riverside metropolis. The project will transform a mile and a half long stretch of land along the Yangtze River, updating a historical city into one of the most multi-functional and sustainable urban centers in the country.

Read the rest of SOM to Redevelop Nanjing Waterfront into Sustainable Mini Metropolis

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Post tags: china, eco design, Green Building, green design, green riverpark, green waterfront, MCC Real Estate, Nanjing, nanjing riverfront, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, SOM, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, sustainable riverpark, sustainable waterfront, water issues, yangtze river